Abstract

RODRIGUES, Luis Paulo; ANGELICO, Sérgio; SARAIVA, Linda  and  BEZERRA, Pedro. Tracking physical fitness from childhood (7-to-9 years old) to late puberty(15 years-old): the Estudo Morfofuncional da Criança Vianense. . Rev. Port. Cien. Desp. [online]. 2007, vol.7, n.3, pp.347-357. ISSN 1645-0523.

Our main goal in this study was to understand the stability and tracking of physical fitness from childhood to late puberty. One hundred seventy four Portuguese boys and girls, participants on the Estudo Morfofuncional da Criança Vianense, were annually assessed on seven physical fitness tests for three consecutive times during pre-pubertal years (ages 7-, 8-, and 9-years old), and once at late puberty (15-years old). Tracking was assessed using auto-correlation coefficients (Spearman and Pearson) and Cohen’s Kappa (K). Results showed higher stability during pre-puberty years (7-to-9-years old) compared with pubertal years (9-to-15-years-old), with boys’ fitness levels being more stable than girls. Overall age-to-age correlations for 7 to 9 years old ranged between 0,43 and 0,81, and 0,23 and 0,66 for 5 to 15 years old. Tracking across all ages was low (K ranging from 0,11 to 0,33), but children classified in the lower quartile (< p25) tended more to remain on the same performance channel, while the ones classified in the higher quartile (> p75) changed position more often

Keywords : tracking; physical fitness; EMCV; longitudinal; adolescence.

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